Xiaowen Lei

Xiaowen Lei is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics and Finance at the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics, University of Guelph, specializing in macroeconomic research with emphasis on wealth distribution and policy frameworks.

Education:

• PhD in Economics, Simon Fraser University, 2018

Her research examines how belief heterogeneity influences wealth inequality through financial market interactions, incorporating rare disasters and generational learning effects. She investigates optimal monetary policy under uncertainty and exchange rate regime choices, bridging theoretical modeling with empirical analysis of asset pricing anomalies and macroeconomic stability.

Her publications reveal consistent focus on inequality dynamics under risk, with methodologies combining heterogeneous-agent models and macro-finance linkages. Recent work explores announcement-day returns driven by investor disagreement and the psychological balance between hope and doubt in asset valuation.

Scientific recognition:

• Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellow at University of Oxford, Nuffield College

Research leadership:

• Principal Investigator: SSHRC Insight Grant "Heterogeneous Beliefs and Wealth Inequality"
• Co-Principal Investigator: SSHRC Insight Development Grant "Market Crash Risk: Fact or Artifact?" with Dr. Zhenzhen Fan

She actively mentors through grant-funded projects while collaborating internationally with institutions including the Bank of Canada and Oxford University.

She directs a research team investigating belief formation mechanisms and their macroeconomic consequences, maintaining strong ties with central banking research networks and academic collaborators across North America and Europe.